Nettie Wiebe cites personal reasons as driving factor

High profile NDP candidate Nettie Wiebe has announced she will not be running for the nomination in the new riding of Saskatoon West.

Last week, Wiebe had received official approval from the party to run in the riding.

But yesterday, Wiebe suddenly announced she was dropping out of the race.

"It was a difficult decision, but I've decided that at this point in my life, this isn't the right time for me to (run again)," she said

Wiebe said this was a difficult decision, one made after discussions with family and friends.

"I became a grandma in January," she said. "That's been an amazing and beautiful change in life perspective for me, so I wanted to savour that a bit more. And it just seemed to me that, at this point in my life, it was time for me to move into a somewhat different role."

The veteran candidate has run four times in the Saskatoon area, and has lost each time, normally by small margins. With the new riding's boundaries now solely in urban areas, it appears the NDP has a strong chance of winning the seat.

Wiebe says recent controversy over satellite offices had nothing to do with her decision not to run again.

"Absolutely not," she said. "It's a set of accusations from Conservatives who are beleaguered themselves by very publicly known scandal. That's clearly a political move on their part."

The Conservative Party has nominated city councillor Randy Donauer to run in Saskatoon West. The Liberal party has not nominated a candidate for the riding yet.